NetGalley

Firsts and Lasts

First:It intrigues me that there are so many rites of passage in life I have yet to experience. Not just big things like getting married, having kids, or buying my own house (though my parents just bought a new house – yay for them!). One of these everyday firsts was going to the dentist a few weeks ago and discovering I had my very first cavity. The dentist was amazed that I had gone 27 years without one and it made me sad to know my teeth had fallen from the “pristine” category to the “slightly decayed” category. Today I went back to have my cavity filled and also get the rest of my teeth sealed to prevent future cavities. As the dentist drilled away part of my tooth I felt like there wasn’t a whole lot left, but she assured me that it wasn’t that bad. She sure could have fooled me. A perk in being a new patient at this dental practice is free teeth whitening! I’m not a smoker or a serious coffee drinker, so I don’t have teeth that look like Captain Jack Sparrow, but I don’t want to turn into Ross from that one episode of “Friends” either. I’ll start my new pearly white regiment soon.

Last:Last Friday I rejoiced in knowing that I no longer have to teach 3rd grade keyboarding three times a week! This 6 week long emphasis on home-row typing, proper posture, etc. has come to a close and I am thankful. Without saying much more and sounding like a mean media specialist, the sense of dread that I once had on those days of the week is now gone. And that makes me happy. 🙂

Library Update:With Halloween just around the corner, I’ve been displaying a variety of Halloween/pumpkin/fall books for all grade levels (K-5) on the tops of shelves so the kids can easily see and reach them (sometimes a difficult task when you’re three or four feet tall). A week or so ago one of the 1st grade classes was checking out books and one of the boys (who is 100% boy – complete with Cool Aid stains on the collar of his shirt that he had used as a makeshift napkin) came up to me and asked, “Do you have any scary books for people my size?” I grinned as I patted him on the head and showed him where the scary books were located for people “his size.”

As far as my own classes are concerned, I’m in the middle of mid-term assignments and projects this week. And while it’s hard (and I’m probably procrastinating by updating my blog rather than writing about online public access catalogs), I have this deep peace knowing that I’m right where God wants me to be. Friday night a group of our MLS graduate students had a Harvest Party outside of town – complete with homemade vegetarian chili, brats, and smores. I shared the story “Time Enough at Last” from an old episode of “The Twilight Zone” and one of my classmates brought some poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. As he stood in front of the campfire reading aloud, I sat with a ridiculously silly grin on my face, totally enthralled in the moment as I lived out of my heart.

In other news, I’ve been given the green light to coordinate a mock-election at our school and have our little library as our official polling place! We don’t have school on the 4th, so our election day will be on November 3rd. We’ll see how their viewpoints are influenced by their parents’. Who’s it going to be? Stay tuned…